Sunday, April 16, 2006

Another Choking Game Death: Why It's So Important to Know the Warning Signs

The Chicago Sun-Times has a very good article in today's edition that discusses the "choking game." The article quotes an Evanston, IL pediatrician, Dr. Joseph Hageman. According
to Hageman, Choking Game participants tend to be between 9 and 16 years
old. Many children who play it do so over and over again, in the
mistaken belief it is safe because it does not involve taking drugs. "There are hundreds
and hundreds of kids that are dying," said Dr. Joseph Hageman, an
Evanston pediatrician and author of a paper on the game. "It's just
plain scary."

The Chicago story appears to have been precipitated by the death of a 12 year old boy who hanged himself 2 weeks ago. And sadly, that's how the extreme risks of the "choking game" become known to a community. It is only after the death of a local child that the grave dangers of this high risk behavior come to the attention of the community.

More kids dying for drug-free high

Across the United States, kids are looking for the ultimate drug-free high -- and dying.

A deadly thrill called
"the Choking Game" is becoming increasingly popular and claiming lives
of children between the ages of 9 and 16, doctors and other experts
said. Two weeks ago, a 12-year-old Glenview boy hanged himself, and a
police official said it was likely he died playing the game.

"There are hundreds
and hundreds of kids that are dying," said Dr. Joseph Hageman, an
Evanston pediatrician and author of a paper on the game. "It's just
plain scary."

SIGNS A CHILD COULD BE PLAYING CHOKING GAME

Unexplained marks or bruises on the neck

Red or bloodshot eyes

Belts, leashes, ropes, shoelaces tied in strange knots, or found in unusual locations.

Frequent severe headaches

Disorientation after spending time alone

Locked bedroom doors

In
the Choking Game, a child gets high by cutting off the flow of blood
and oxygen to the brain, then releases the pressure to let the supply
back in. With the blood vessels no longer constricted, Hageman said,
blood hurries back to the brain, creating "an incredible rush" that is
"very pleasant."

It
can be played in a group setting, with one person choking another, then
releasing pressure as the person passes out. Even more dangerously,
kids play alone using a belt, rope or dog leash.

"It's
not dissimilar to -- from what I understand -- the feeling you get when
you use methamphetamines," said Hageman, also a professor at
Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

The
Choking Game goes by many other names: Space Monkey, Fainting, the Pass
Out Game, the Black Out Game, American Dream, Flatliner or Flatline,
Space Cowboy, Knock Out, Gasp, Rising Sun, Airplaning, and many others.
Under any name, it always has the potential to be lethal.

Death shocks Glenview

Glenview
police say they think it claimed the life of Leo McCarthy. About 10:24
p.m. on March 27, Leo's father found the 12-year-old choked by a guitar
strap, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner. The
parents performed CPR with coaching from a dispatcher, said Glenview
Fire Chief Wayne Globerger. It didn't matter. The boy was pronounced
dead at 10:59 p.m. at Glenbrook Hospital. The medical examiner ruled
the cause of death to be hanging.

The boy's family declined to talk to the Sun-Times.

Glenview
Deputy Police Chief Kirk Filipowski said he thinks Leo died playing the
Choking Game. "It looks like that was the case," he said.

"We're
up to speed on this game. And hopefully . . . some parents will get the
word out to other kids and hopefully prevent any future tragedy like
this," Filipowski said.

Leo
attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help school in Glenview. His death has
sent shock waves through the school, according to the father of one
student. "There are some very upset parents," he said.

According
to Hageman, Choking Game participants tend to be between 9 and 16 years
old. Many children who play it do so over and over again, in the
mistaken belief it is safe because it does not involve taking drugs.
The Choking Game differs from autoerotic asphyxiation, in which a
person uses choking to enhance pleasure while masturbating. People who
engage in that fall into an older age group than the kids playing the
Choking Game, Hageman said.

Kids
who play the Choking Game tend to be "wholesome," Hageman said: "They
get this rush, and they go to their parents and say, 'but we're not
doing any drugs now.' "

But
the "game" becomes acutely dangerous if performed alone. With no one
there to remove pressure from the neck, the child can pass out and
strangle themselves on the strap they are using, he said.

As many as 750 may die a year

While
statistics on the game are hard to come by, the Teen Choking Game
Newsletter estimates 250 adolescents die from it or autoerotic
asphyxiation each year. The newsletter's editor, Dan Baldwin, based the
estimate on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. The annual number of deaths could be as high as 750,
Baldwin wrote.

As
the game's popularity grows -- possibly fueled by the Internet -- the
horror stories mount. Last summer, 11-year-old Coleman Noia of
Springfield was found dead with a dog leash around his neck. He might
have died playing the Choking Game, according to the State
Journal-Register.

Earlier
this month, Maryland high school student William Bowen was found dead
with a terry-cloth sash around his neck after playing the game. The
scourge has given rise to Web sites -- such as www.stop-the-choking-game.com -- alerting parents to the dangers. And "The Oprah Winfrey Show" ran a segment on the game.

But
doctors and law enforcement officials say more must be done to tell
parents about this dangerous game. "We're looking into ways to educate
the public," Filipowski said.

Comments

i knew leo and he was a very nice boy!! im happy to know ppl are spreading the word about space monkey! i was friends with leo and everyone who knew him loved him!!! he even now has an award given out to someone at olph everyyear. It is given to someone who has been most inspirational that year! and it is dedicated to leo mccarthy!! it was such a shock i saw him the night before he died. he isnt the type of person you expect to do this kind of a game!